The Queensland government said it will support the addition of one councillor to Cloncurry Shire before the next election, increasing the representation to five councillors and a mayor.
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There had been calls to increase the number of councillors by two but now Minister for Local Government Stirling Hinchliffe says he will support one extra councillor.
His support came in parliament on May 16 after Robbie Katter asked him to prioritise the expansion so a decision could be made before Cloncurry Shire Council's 2020 election.
Mr Katter said deferring the investigation of expansion from four to six councillors would leave Cloncurry inadequately underrepresented for at least another five years.
In response Minister Hinchliffe said he had referred Cloncurry Shire Council's submission to the Local Government Change Commission for assessment.
"I support increasing representation by one additional councillor only, which would increase representation to five councillors and a mayor," Mr Hinchliffe said.
"This is in line with neighbouring councils Winton and Richmond, and more than neighbouring councils Boulia, Burke and McKinlay.
"I discussed this with the mayor of Cloncurry, councillor Greg Campbell on May 29 and I am pleased to advise that councillor Campbell is now comfortable with an increase to five councillors and a mayor."
Cr Campbell said he met with Mr Hinchliffe in Brisbane and was thankful for his support.
"The Minister said he had looked at neighbouring shires to ours and weighed up the pros and cons," Cr Campbrll said.
"He weighed up why having four is a negative impact on council and in his view that five were going to cover issues.
"Our preferred position is still to have an additional two councillors, but if one is all we are going to get it is better than nothing."
Mr Hinchliffe said following his discussion with Cr Campbell, he had requested the Local Government Change Commission's further consideration of the council's request to potentially be finalised prior to the 2020 Local Government Elections.
"In making this request, I acknowledge the significant workload ahead of the Change Commission, given the large number of Local Government Divisional Boundary Reviews referred for consideration," Mr Hinchliffe said.
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Samantha Campbell
Samantha Campbell (nee Walton) has worked for regional and rural publications across New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. She is currently writing for the North Queensland Register based in North West Queensland. Email: samantha.campbell@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Samantha Campbell (nee Walton) has worked for regional and rural publications across New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. She is currently writing for the North Queensland Register based in North West Queensland. Email: samantha.campbell@austcommunitymedia.com.au
